What is the Message in `Le Message'

In Balzac's short story, "Le Message" the narrator tells the strange tale of how he tried to relay a message from a dead man. We investigate the nature of this message (relating it to messages in general), and analyze its relation to the Œdipus complex. We also take a close look at the signifiers that compose this message, at the deflected path that it takes, and at its necessarily figural nature. (DJK)